By Paul Liotta
Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Police believe a five-year member of the NYPD committed suicide Friday in a Manhattan transit police station.
The 34-year-old woman appeared to have shot herself inside the Transit Bureau station at the Columbus Circle subway stop at around 2:30 p.m., according to an NYPD spokesman.
She was transported to Bellevue Hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to the spokesman.
According to the non-profit organization Blue HELP, at least 228 police officers died by suicide across the country in 2019, and at least 10 were members of the NYPD.
On Staten Island, at least three current and former NYPD officers took their own lives last year, and a retired officer died by suicide inside his Graniteville home on Jan. 2 of this year.
Friday’s suicide is the second among active NYPD officers this year.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea took to Twitter to express his and the department’s grief over the officer’s death, and to urge other officers to get help if they need it.
https://twitter.com/NYPDShea/status/1238587547577733121
“Today, the NYPD mourns as we’ve lost a fellow officer to death by suicide. Our thoughts & prayers are with their family & friends,” he wrote. “You are never alone, help is always available. Law enforcement text BLUE to 741741 (others text TALK)— to be connected to someone who can help 24/7.”